And the World goes “meh”: Nintendo’s Keynote
All eyes are on the gaming world this week with the Expo extravaganza that is E3. While the air is rife with anticipation, things seem to have fallen a little sour for the Nintendo crowd.
With very few things to actually anticipate, Nintendo fans had some pretty fantastic guessing games as to what the Big N would grace us with this year. After their past two relatively stellar performances, Nintendo had quite the reputation to uphold. What new exciting things could they possibly bring us? Fans touted things such as Kid Icarus, or a new Zelda, or redesigned DS. Everyone kept on guessing with bated breath until Reggie “Regginator” Fils-Aime took the stage at 9:30 PMT on Tuesday morning. Then, with all the pomp and circumstance Nintendo delievered…nothing. I’m using that term lightly here. Sure, we got a peek at Animal Crossing and Wii Sports 2. But as for any earth-shattering developments, I think it’s safe to say we’ll have to wait until next year, or the Tokyo Game Show at the earliest to get some shocking new Nintendo news.
However, I can’t completely write off the possibility of Nintendo doing what they did with Smash Bros. Brawl and holding a private viewing instead of showcasing it at the keynote. While I suppose that’s good for secrecy, it certainly shows a lack of faith in whatever new property that could be debuting.
The downside to all of this? The grim revelation that we, the hardcore gaming audience, are a no longer any concern to Nintendo whatsoever. Over the past couple of years we had the idea that Nintendo was moving in a more casual direction, but that didn’t bother us as long as we got our fair share of gameplay lovin’ with classic franchises or new properties. With this keynote, Nintendo put the games as something secondary to casual implementation. For instance, Nintendo’s “major” announcement of the day was Wii Music, The fourth in the series of “Wii-something” titles which is a glorified gesture-interpreting system that plays the music so you don’t have to. The only redeeming quality of this game is the drum system, which actually has you controlling what you play which isn’t as spectacular now that Rock Band and Guitar Hero have their own drum sets.
I commend Nintendo on their efforts to implement their products in domestic territory, and I respect their decision to focus on the casual demographic. They’ve decided to put on a show non-gamers can enjoy, however, they seem to have forgotten the people in the audience: gamers.
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I hope you’re right about Tokyo Game Show. It appears E3 is unworthy of big announcements now. At least as far as the Japanese companies are concerned.